Bio
Bass-baritone Oliver Poveda Zavala, originally from the highland country of Ecuador, is a graduate of the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. Oliver is a returning Artist in Residence for Opera Colorado’s 2025-26 Season. Last season, Oliver sang in the touring productions of The Barber of Seville (Bartolo) and Hansel and Gretel (Father), and appeared in the mainstage production of La bohème (Benoit). This season, Oliver will perform in the touring productions of The Pirates of Penzance (Samuel and Sergeant of Police) and Romeo and Juliet (Friar Lawrence), and will make a role debut in La traviata (Dr. Grenvil). Oliver made his debut in La fanciulla del West (José Castro) as an Apprentice Artist with Central City Opera for their 2024 summer festival season, where he also covered the role of Ashby in La fanciulla del West and Mr. Olsen in Street Scene. In 2023, Oliver appeared in Opera Colorado’s Student Matinee performance of Don Giovanni (Masetto), sang in Die Fledermaus (Dr. Falke) with Opera in Williamsburg, and participated in Central City Opera’s apprenticeship program, where he sang in the Emerging Artists Matinee of Romeo and Juliet (Frère Laurent) and in Otello (Elmiro cover). Oliver has worked with multiple companies in Colorado, including Opera Steamboat, Boulder Opera, and Denver Immersive Opera, where he performed in La bohème (Colline), the abridged version of Lori Laitman’s The Three Feathers (Frog King), Xavier Montsalvatge’s El gato con botas (El ogro), and Bluebeard’s Castle (Duke Bluebeard). In November 2022, he sang in Don Giovanni (Leporello) with the Vincerò Academy in Mazatlán, Mexico, and in 2021, he made his company debut with Opera in Williamsburg in The Elixir of Love (Dr. Dulcamara). In August 2021, he performed in ISOFOM’s production of The Marriage of Figaro (Bartolo and Antonio) in Morelia, Mexico. Other recent roles include Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Monsieur Presto), L’Enfant et les sortilèges (Le Fauteuil and L’Arbre), Cabildo (Gaoler), The Magic Flute (Sarastro), Gianni Schicchi (Simone), and Il tabarro (Talpa) with the Lamont Opera Theatre during his studies at the University of Denver. Oliver is the 2021 and 2022 winner of the Ann Logan Craft Vocal Competition, a 2021 finalist at the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition, and a recipient of the Sherry Shepherd Sargent Memorial Award.